PNB Q3 PAT up 16 pc at Rs 429.87 cr

New Delhi, Jan 31: Punjab National Bank today announced a net profit of Rs 429.87 crore for the third quarter ended December 2006, a rise of 16 per cent year-on-year, and retained the growth outlook for the last quarter of the financial year.

''We expect our profits to be about the current level for the fourth quarter as we will make adequate arrangements to offset the effect of 25 basis points rise in the repo rate by the RBI today,'' bank's Chairman and Managing Director S C Gupta told reporters here.

One of the measures that the bank will take is to reduce the level of non-performing assets (NPAs) by 10 per cent, Mr Gupta added. The bank currently has Rs 880 crore of NPAs.

During the third quarter the bank had made provisions to the tune of Rs 307 crore for depreciation and NPAs.

For the third quarter of the previous year, PNB had posted a net profit of Rs 370.44 crore.

For the nine months ending December 2006, bank's net profit rose by 13 per cent to Rs 1,302.38 crore as compared to Rs 1,150.64 crore during the same period a year ago.

''This figure came after providing the neccessary provisions of Rs 1,046 crore towards income tax, wealth tax, NPAs, standard assets and depreciation. The provisions for the previous year was Rs 732 crore,'' Mr Gupta said.

During the third quarter, bank's total income rose to Rs 3,271 crore, 21 per cent higher than Rs 2,698 crore during the corresponding period last year. ''This included interest income of Rs 2,948 crore, which increased 21 per cent y-o-y, and non-interest income, including commission, exchange and brokerage, of Rs 213 crore, a rise of 19 per cent y-o-y,'' the Chairman added.

Total expenses (excluding provisions) for the third quarter were Rs 2,315 crore, eight per cent higher y-o-y.

Total business of the bank, for the quarter, stood at Rs 2,17,874 crore, a y-o-y increase of 26 per cent. Total deposits and advances amounted to Rs 1,30,225 crore and Rs 87,649 crore respectively.

Cost of deposits was 4.4 per cent for the nine months period while the yield on advances improved 9.11 per cent for the same period.

Priority sector advances for the quarter rose 24 per cent at Rs 37,270 crore, as against Rs 30,170 crore in the same period last year. Credit to agriculture stood at Rs 17,283 crore, showing a rise of 33 per cent y-o-y.

UNI